On politics in the Golden State

Should Jerry Brown's dog fill in for him at Sacramento Press Club?

A candidate for the board of the Sacramento Press Club has a modest proposal: If the governor continues to avoid the institution, perhaps he can send his dog, Sutter, in his place?

Michael Montgomery, a former radio reporter in Sacramento, made the suggestion earlier this week to a newsletter circulated among Sacramento insiders, Capitol Morning Report.

In an interview with The Times, he said he hadn't seen Brown at the club for more than 20 years, during which the once-and-former governor has also served as mayor of Oakland and state attorney general.

Montgomery is especially miffed that Brown, to date, has avoided a regular gubernatorial ritual of addressing the press club after releasing his budget. He did not do it last year and has not scheduled an appearance this one either.

If Brown doesn't show, perhaps he'd like to send his Pembroke Welsh corgi, Sutter, in his stead, Montgomery quipped. "My goal is to have a little fun, to get elected to the board, to have the governor come and to see the dog," Montgomery said.

The barb may be trivial, but it illustrates a gripe among some reporters in the state Capitol. In a marked departure from his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brown has scaled back his press staff and eschewed flashy -- and news-making -- press conferences. For example, when it came time to release his proposed tax plan last month, Brown simply posted it on Twitter.

His press secretary, Gil Duran, has said Brown sees no need to make news just for the sake of making news. "He's not here to entertain," Duran said in an interview late last year. "We already had a blockbuster."

He did not respond to an email about whether Sutter would appear at the press club.